Fully partitioned collapsible bottle carrier



Jan. 17, 1956 R. M. BERGSTEIN FULLY PARTITIONED COLLAPSIBLE BOTTLE CARRIER 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. 28, 1952 illt Jan. 17, 1956 R. M. BERGSTEIN FULLY PARTITIONED COLLAPSIBLE BOTTLE CARRIER Filed Feb. 28, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .73 J13 1; ,1 i (I? J J a f 3 1a 5 INVENTOR.

'Fmr M m/ seman yfla ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent FULLY PARTITIONED COLLAPSIBLE BOTTLE CARRIER R0bert.Morris Bergsteiu, Wyoming, Ohio, assignor to The Bergstein Packaging Trust, a trustcomposed of Robert M. Bergstein and Frank .D. Bergstein Application February 28, 1952, Serial No. 273,896 1 Claim. (Cl. 220-113) My invention relates to a bottle carrier especially adapted for the packaging and transportation of a sales unit of merchandise. While my invention will find uses elsewhere, it is primarily directed to a carton for use in the beverage field wherein it is becoming increasingly popular to package a plurality of bottles or containers of the beverage in a convenient, easy to handle, expendable carrier.

'In this field there is a great .demand for knockdown or flat-folding carriers having internal partition structures to elfectively divide and separate the containers from each other, particularly where the containers are glass bottles and the like. The internal partitions are also of importance in locating and maintaining the containers in proper spaced relationship in the carrier, especially where the carrier is to be loaded and unloaded by machine operations. In addition to being fully .partitioned, a carrier tobe commercially practicable must be collapsible so that it may be shipped and stored in the least possible amount of space, and its construction must be such that it can be easily and quickly erected and maintained in the erected condition during loading. These considerations, of course, present many problems in the design and commercial manufacture of suitable carrier structures. Many of the partitioned carrier structures presently in use require large amounts of boxboard, and since the boxboard is one of the major items of expense in a carrier, the quantity of boxboard required raises the cost of the carriers to an uneconomical level. Others require considerable labor or special equipment to assemble, and still others require the insertion of separate pieces or parts within an outer shell, and wall of these things increase both the labor and material costs of the structures.

The loading of the filled carriers into cases presents a special problem. It is customary'to pack four carriers in a case to provide a shipping unit of twenty-four bottles or containers. Generally the filled cartons fit very tightly in the case with the result that the cases are difficult to load, particularly by means of automatic loading equipment. In accordance with the instant invention, I have found that this condition can be greatly alleviated by cutting away the center longitudinal partition' at one end of the carrier in such'fashion as to permit the adjacent end Walls of the carrier to flex inwardly independently of the center partition. This provides, in effect, a lengthwise contraction of the carrier structure which permits it .to be more easily fitted into the case.

It is, therefore, a principal object of my invention to provide a fully partitioned carrier structure with the utmost economy in labor andmaterial, the carrier structure being longitudinally flexible so as to permit it to be readily fitted in a shipping case with other carriers.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a carrier structure which requires .no special equipment and can be completely assembled on folding and gluing .equipment currently in use in the box making industry.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a "fully partitioned carrier which can be fabricated .frdm a one-pieceblank and shipped to'the user in flat-folded form.

Yet another object of my invention is the provision of a knock-down partitioned carrier of unusual strength, in which the partitions are formed as an integral part of the carrier and are erected automatically into the desired position as the outer structure or shell is erected, it being only necessary to apply pressure to opposite ends of the outer shell to fully erect both the outer shell and the internal partition elements.

These and other objects of my invention will be set forth hereinafter or will be apparent to 'o'ne skilled in the art .upon reading these specifications, I accomplish by that arrangement and construction of parts of which 1 shall now describe an exemplary embodiment. Reference is hereby made to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure .1 is a plan view of the blank for my carrier structure.

Figures 2, 3 and 4 illustrate successive stages in the folding and gluing of the blank to form a fiat-folded carrier structure.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 4 with the parts in slightly expanded condition.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6--6 of Figure 4, the parts also being shown in slightly ex- .panded condition.

Figure 7is a .view similar to Figure 5 but showing the parts in fully erected condition.

Figure 8 .is a view similar to Figure 6 but showing the parts in 'fully erected condition.

Figure 9 is a perspective view with certain of the parts broken away illustrating the fully erected carrier.

Figure 10 is -a sectional view taken along the line 1010 of Figure 9 and showing the details of an arrangement whereby the carrier parts may be locked in the erected condition.

Referring now to Figure l, the carrier blank comprises a bottom panel 1 divided in half by medial score line 2, with side wall panels .3 and 4 articulated to opposite side edges .of the bottom panel. Partial end wall panels 5, 6, 7 and 8 are articulated to opposite side edges of the side wall panels and attachment flaps 9 and 10 are articulated to the opposite side edges of partial end Wall panels 5 and 7. Handle forming parts 11 and 12, and

lines 27, 28, 29 and 30. Attachment fiaps 31 and 32 are articulated both to the partial end wall panels 6 and 8, and to the handle forming parts 11 and 12, and end tabs 33 and 34 are articulated .both to handle forming parts 11 and 12, and to end Wall portions 5 and 7. A center partition and handle forming part 35 is articulated to the free edge of handle forming part 12.

The center partition and handle forming part 35, it will be noted, is of reduced width along one side edge, being cut away along the edge 36. The cut away portion, indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1, is of a width somewhatjin excess of the width of the attachment flaps 9 and and, as will be pointed out more specifically hereinafter, it is this cut away portion of the center partition which permits longitudinal flexing of the carrier.

The configuration of the carrier blank is such that pairs of blanks may be nested with respect to each other by .placing them end to end with the extending center partition panels parallel to each other for the utmost possible conservation of box'board. In addition, the cut away portions of the center partition eiiects a further saving in board.

In assembling the blank of Figures 1 and 2 into a flatfolded structure, the blank may be folded by hand, but preferably it is folded and glued employing suitable folding and gluing equipment which forms no part of my invention; it being remembered, however, that one of the objects of my invention is the provision of a carrier structure which can be assembled on equipment found in the average box making plant. In the preferred embodiment illustrated, the carrier blank is folded and glued on a right angle folding and gluing machine, being first moved along in the direction indicated in Figure l. by the arrow A. As the blank is moved along in the direction A, the partial end wall panels 5 and 7 are infolded along the lines of articulation between the said end wall panels and side walls 3 and 4. Concurrently the attachment flaps 31 and 32 are infolded to overlie partial end wall panels 6 and 7. The blank then assumes the condition illustrated in Figure 2, whereupon adhesive is applied to the upper surfaces of attachment flaps 9, and 31, 32, as indicated by the shading in the figure, as well as to portions of the handle foiming parts 11 and 12, as indicated by the shaded areas thereof.

The blank is then moved at right angles to the direction of motion A, in the direction B as seen in Figure 3, and the center partition panel 35 infolded to overlie the handle forming part 12 and attachment flap. The adhesive carried by the attachment flap and the handle forming part secure those parts to the center partition. At its opposite side edge the center partition terminates short of the attachment flap 10, as will be evident in Figure 3 of the drawings, the cut away edge 36 of the partition being spaced from the outer edge of the attachment flap. Next, the blank is folded along the median score line 2 to bring the center partition panel 35 into contact with attachment flap 31 and handle forming part 11, the adhesive on these parts serving to secure them to the center partition element. Concurrently, the attachment fiap 10 is brought into direct adhesive engagement with attachment flap 9. The flat-folded form of the carrier is shown in Figure 4. In this condition the carrier is ready to be shipped to the user who has only to erect the structure from the flatfolded form to ready it for use. It should be pointed out that the application of adhesive to the attachment flaps and handle parts may occur either before or after the blank changes direction, and the point of application does not constitute a limitation of my invention.

The carrier is erected, as seen in Figure 6, by applying inwardly directed pressure against opposite ends of the structure, as indicated by the arrows C. As pressure is applied in the manner indicated, the side walls swing outwardly away from the center partition panel, carrying the transverse partitions 13-16 with them, the transverse partitions swinging along the score lines by which they are articulated to the side walls and the handle forming parts. The fully erected carrier is seen in Fig ures 7, 8 and 9. The carrier is maintained in erected condition by means of a locking device most clearly seen in Figures 1 and 10 of the drawings. The locking device comprises a pair of mating tongues 37 and 38 provided adjacent the lower edges of attachment flaps 9 and 19 which coact with a cut-out 39 lying adjacent the end of bottom panel 1 and along median score line 2, as shown in Figure 1. When the carrier is erected, slight upward pressure on the end of bottom panel 1 will cause the cut-out 39 to engage the mating tongues 37 and 38. Since the tongues are inwardly directed in the direction of collapsibility of the carrier, the natural tendency of the parts to assume the collapsed or partially collapsed condition will be sufiicient to maintain the tongues in positive contact with the cut-out and hence prevent the structure from collapsing.

As will be well understood in the art, hand holes 40 and handle forming tabs 41 will be provided in the central partition panel and the handle forming parts for carrying purposes.

The construction just described, particularly the central partition panel, provides a number of advantages. The central partition panel provides a sturdy barrier between the rows of bottles placed in the carrier, and yet by reason of the cut away edge 36, the attachment flaps 9 and 10 are free from attachment to the center partition and hence the end wall panels 5 and 7 are free to flex, which would not be the case if they were secured to the center partition. It also provides an extra thickness of board between the two handle forming parts, thus providing a triple thickness handle portion which reinforces and strengthens the hand holes and helps pre vent tearing, thereby providing dependable carriability. in addition, the center partition panel lends suflicient rigidity to the structure to prevent buckling or other distortion of the handle parts which would interfere with the automatic machinery employed to both load and unload the carton. It also enables me to firmly anchor the partial end wall panels to each other and to the center partition, thus further enhancing the strength characteristics of the structure.

My construction provides a sturdy reinforced carrier which has all of the automatic set-up features and protection characteristics demanded by the bottling industry and yet at the same time it employs a minimum amount of material and an extremely simplified gluing procedure. Modifications may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit of it. For example, l have found that the end tabs 33 and 34 may be eliminated without impairing the utility and strength characteristics of the carrier.

Having thus described my invention in an exemplary embodiment, what I desire to protect and secure by Letters Patent is:

In a flat-folded bottle carrier, a medially folded bottom, side walls articulated to opposite side edges of said bottom, partial end walls articulated to the ends of said side walls, attachment flaps connected to the outer ends of said partial end walls, the partial end walls at one end of the carrier lying in infolded condition underlying said side walls with the attachment flaps extending inwardly therebeyond in face-to-face relation with their contacting surfaces adhesively secured together, the partial end walls at the opposite end of the carrier extending outwardly beyond the side walls with the attachment flaps connected thereto infolded to underlie the 1 said last named partial end walls, handle parts of a width substantially equal to the width of the side walls extending between the partial end walls at the opposite end of the carrier and overlying the outer surfaces of the attachment flaps, diagonally disposed transverse partition elements articulated to the side walls adjacent their upper edges and to the handle parts adjacent their lower edges along vertically extending lines of articulation, and a full width substantially full depth one-piece center partition panel articulated along its top edge to one of said handle parts and extending downwardly between the said handle parts and the infolded attachmentflaps at one end of the carrier, said center partition panel being adhesively secured to said last named attachment flaps, with said central partition panel cut away adjacent the attachment fiaps which are adhesively secured together, whereby said carrier may be flexed inwardly in the direction of its longitudinal axis to accommodate it to a crate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,367,378 Gruenberg Feb. 1, 1921 2,367,066 Slevin Jan. 9, 1945 2,402,219 Wesselman June 18, 1946 2,458,281 Lupton Jan. 4, 1949 2,594,377 Arneson Apr. 29, 1952 2,616,611 Arneson Nov. 4, 1952 2,634,043 Arneson Apr. 7, 1953 2,692,700 Kowal Oct. 26, 1954 

